[Cornflakes] 57 Christmas Treats That Will Make You Hungry

[Cornflakes]

Here's one paragraph from Krill that really altered my perspective on leader/civ evaluation and game play:

Look, in a lot of games, people look at something that is considered special or unique to a civ, or a faction, or a team, and think they need to use that item as much as possible. Civ isn't like that, you need to use the savings on that special item to bolster something that you are lacking. People think that Boudicca is the ultmate warmonger. She isn't. If you pick Boudicca, you actually have to play "Civ City" and spend all of the time and effort managing and growing the economy. And then, if you reach the late game and you have a good enough economy, you win.

EXP balances out those weakness in a leader/civ combo. Shaka doesn't need to focus on the economy so much, because he spends less on workers so he can spend those hammers on military. Old Bismark could focus on getting that early wonder without getting run over 30 turns later by HA. Pacal can get his cottages down faster and more easily, and get them grown sooner. It lets Izzy build an empire so there is more to micromanage, more to wring out of it via civic abuses. EXP covers the weaknesses and lets the other trait be used more, and that is why it is a good trait.

This was a paradigm shift for me. Before, I was always trying to maximize my strengths and "make use of the toys" rather than seeing the toys as a means to accomplish wider goals. Another example from I think the same thread but maybe not (can't find it right now) is using IMP trait to chase early wonders like Stonehenge or Great Lighthouse ... instead of cranking out settler after settler into a crashed economy, take the hammer savings from the first couple settlers and use that to build a wonder ahead of the IND player who has to pay full price for HIS first couple settlers and can't start the wonders until later.

[Cornflakes]

Will this game start before Christmas? Or will we have to go with a new theme

But seriously, thanks Noble for following through with a map even though the first concept didn’t work out!

[Cornflakes]

Things have been posted for lurker review.

In honor of the map being nearly ready, I offer you the name of my capital: Cashew Bars. They look something like this. This was my absolute favorite treat that my grandma made. My favorite memory of my grandma involves these cashew bars: She knew that they were my favorite, and when we first arrived to visit for Christmas she would secretly slip me one as a treat before bringing them out later with the rest of the cookies and candies for the whole family. And she would always set one aside so that later in the week after they ran out, she would still have one saved just for me.

[NobleHelium]

[Cornflakes]

The map is 32x32 Small Toroidal.  There are 610 land tiles.  There are more than 10 peaks on the map.

Square map ... assume all land tiles are a circle gives diameter of approximately 28 ... more than 10 peaks  Does the map look something like this? 

   

5 players spaced over 360° gives us 72° of separation. My math isn't good enough to calculate a chord length without sketching this out, but if we approximate to 60° (equilateral triangle) the chord should equal the radius which would be half the diameter = 14 tiles. That is about typical, but that is only the separation distance at the coast. As the radius decreases towards the center, the chord decreases proportionally.

The radius of 14 would also be the distance to the center, although given coast to the NW the center is on the diagonal or 14/1.41 = 10 tiles to the SE from my coast due to the square tile grid movement on the diagonal. Call the clams tile my coast, and I can place a city 5 tiles away SE which is halfway to the center.

Enough map hacking. You all are really more interested in civ/leader picks. I really like this start Noble, after considering various start tech combos I'm confident that there is not One Right Choice and therefore there is more freedom to pick something interesting rather than be restricted to e.g. just a couple Fishing/Agriculture civs. Agriculture is an obvious bonus given wet corn and wet rice, but 5T tech time is do-able ... and Hunting also provides 2 resources for improvement. Creative trait has clear value in allowing immediate access to all resources. Overall my initial impression is *Quite Pleased*

[Cornflakes]

Another trick available in Advanced Start is settling on islands for IC trade is allowed even without Sailing. However the downside is that the options are restricted and the odds are much higher that I would orphan seafood tiles in the fog by settling on the only island tile that is available. Is it worth the risk?

[Cornflakes]

Production in this start is adequate, food is sufficient (comfortable), commerce is my concern for the long-term. The free river commerce will get us through the early game, but long-term I really would like to put watermills on most of the river tiles. And we have many non-river grassland tiles for cottaging.

I’m liking Ragnar of America, 4 cities (one on the island), 1 worker, 1 clam nets.
America because it was on my preliminary list of interesting civs and it has Fishing/Agriculture for early food techs.
FIN because many non-riverside grass tiles, and no naturally strong commerce tiles (gems/silver/gold/furs). And with clams from T0 it is an immediate +1c.
AGG because I want to play AGG, and it sounds fun with American Armory. And the -25% maintenance is actually very relevant in advanced start.

I'll take America first, and if Ragnar gets snatched I'll mix AGG with something else. I'm still not convinced FIN is best anyway. CHA, SPI, ORG, IND, EXP are probably my other "favorites"  But in reality, I feel that the traits are very balanced at this point.

   

Breakeven at 60% with 13 bpt with 4 cities is great. 10 turns of enforced peace is enough to build a warrior at Boston and get it moved into Washington by the time 10T enforced peace expires. My only real concern here is the large gap between Washington and the two cities further north might be awkward in an early rush/choke situation. Aggressive mitigates that with C1 on my warriors, and AGG/America combo mitigates this from a psychological standpoint of my neighbors not wanting to get bogged down in grinding ancient era conflict with the most highly promoted ancient military.

[Cornflakes]

City naming time! With 4 cities expected T0, we need a couple more names right away.

@Tarkeel, would you like to select one of Boston, New York, or Philadelphia to be named Pinnekjott?

May I introduce you to the local speciality pinnekjøtt?

That looks good As the first nominee, you have guaranteed yourself a city name! Capital name is locked in, but you can have your pick of one of the other starting cities, or defer for a better option later

Other nominees to date:
- Mincemeat (DaveV)
- Christstollen (Kaiser).

I'll take nominations for the remaining 2 starting cities up until the snakepick is finished, and I'll also accept additional votes for previous nominees to guarantee a city

[Tarkeel]

I think Pinnekjøtt should go to the first city that claims sheep.

[civac2]

I nominate the Dominostein.

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Categ...in_cut.jpg